


but they’re connecting again, and he doesn’t know how (or why) he stopped

by lemonjarr



Series: the future is strange, but they think it's better [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst ?, FREAKING TAGS, Fluff, Future Fic, Gen, I am dead, M/M, haikyuu manga spoilers, kuroo tetsurou in a suit, tags are very hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 12:41:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25849726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemonjarr/pseuds/lemonjarr
Summary: “Why are you looking like you’re having an emotional flashback?” the boy asks before frowning.Tetsurou sputters for a long second in offense.“Kenma!” he screeches for his own pride. “I amnot!”He misses this.He misses messing with Kenma, he misses Kenma’s snarky remarks, he misses Kenma’s vague smell of literalwarmth,he misses the highschool days where he worried about nothing.
Relationships: implied kuroo tetsurou/kozume kenma
Series: the future is strange, but they think it's better [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1870168
Kudos: 27





	but they’re connecting again, and he doesn’t know how (or why) he stopped

**Author's Note:**

> kuroo tetsurou is amazing omg i love him so much

He leans over Kenma’s shoulder and holds up a peace symbol towards the camera, and the younger groans at his antics and the exploding comments showing on the other computer screen.

It’s been years, but Tetsurou is still very much convinced they are most _definitely_ still best friends.

 _Because_ no one will know the ins and outs of each other like they do. _Tetsurou_ is the only one who can still name what Kenma’s bed sheets were when they were twelve ( _Pac-Man_ ) _Tetsurou_ is the only one who can name exactly what they named that one kitten they found behind the playground when they were four (Pi).

Tetsurou thinks it’s insane how far everyone has gotten in the short (long?) time they’ve been away from each other. He still thinks it hasn't been that long.

Of course, he hasn’t seen a lot of the “everyone” from his highschool days in _person_ for a long time.

His mind can’t comprehend that Kenma _actually_ became a _Youtuber_ and a CEO. He remembers when Kenma cried over a cat at the local pet store (he cried with him; they really wanted that cat).

But a lot of things turned out weird; Lev and his sister are _models_ , the pretty manager and Baldy from Karasuno are _married_ , and that red-haired Shiratorizawa kid is a baker and _bald_ , but those are only the ones he can name off the top of his head.

Kenma's house is silent. He guesses that makes sense because Kenma’s rich and lives alone but it still keeps Tetsurou on edge. It’s unlike where they used to live, where children would run outside at the early hours of five in the morning and when cars would still drive by at three. 

It’s been a while, but he still feels that the Kenma — the one that only got excited for Shorty and video games and the occasional apple pie — he saw so long ago hasn’t disappeared yet.

It’s only been a few years, though.

But Tetsurou has a good memory, and he knows for a fact that Kenma still bites his nails and is still a terrible cook judging by the small burn on his finger and the rigid, gross fingernails that click on the keyboard.

The same hands that dropped that volleyball so long ago.

He remembers being in that period of time, where Sawamura would receive and Hinata and Kageyama would make others go crazy with their freak quick.

He bets it’s even better now.

But he remembers so much from then.

The match with Karasuno — the first official Battle at The Garbage Dump. The energy was terrifying. The sweat dripped off his chin like thick chocolate, and he could still smell the new shoe-volleyball smell that always filled the air.

He can still envision the moment he saw Tsukki high-fived Yamaguchi like a _real_ friend, and felt something like a father would feel. It feels complete, like he’s finally done it, and has now done something rarer than resurrecting the dead.

But the moment he knows he’s done the impossible is when Kenma _gets back up_.

He remembers Lev and Taketora furrowing their eyebrows when he explains his favorite part of the match to them. It was kind of complicated.

But it was _Kenma_. The Kenma who never goes for something big, but the Kenma who always, always goes for the least amount of work. But the boy gets back up instead of falling back down and staying.

Tetsurou almost paused then, but the grin on his face said otherwise and he hurried to get into formation.

But the set fails.

It’s a retched, painful moment where it’s just a work of something so, so common.

 _Sweat_.

Of all things, he can’t believe that’s what he lost to. It seems that no one else can, either. Then, it explodes.

But Kenma drops in the heat of the moment.

Everything pauses. His bed-headed face is in front of him before anyone can make it over (like a mother hen), asking if he’s okay over and over again.

But Kenma turns to look at him and smiles a smile Tetsurou has never seen.

The boy sighs, but he chokes out, “This is fun.”

He tilts his head back in relief, a smile between a sigh and sadness plastered on his face as he looks up at blinding lights. Shorty pumps his fist from across the room in achievement, but Tetsurou feels happy for him this time.

He remembers seeing Kenma move to sit up. The boy crosses his legs, and his best friend stares at him for a long moment.

“Thank you,” he says, “for getting me into volleyball.”

He can’t find it in himself to just bend over and start crying.

So he stays dumbfounded and replies blandly, “Uh… sure.“

“ _But it’s just a game_ ,” he can imagine bratty, six year old him saying, looking between his volleyball and the older him. “ _Why?_ ”

Because it’s _the_ game. The game that made Kenma try, that made everyone want to get up and keep _moving_. It doesn’t matter that they’re tired and everything’s sore, because it’s _their_ game and no one will take it.

Because he saw his fellow third years on that court who wouldn’t play next year, but were there anyways.

It’s what connects them, and isn’t that crazy?

Every single player, they all have one goal, and it’s to keep playing.

And they never want that to stop.

(He never wanted it to stop.)

But people grow and grow and now he’s older and past the delusions of a high school fantasy. 

Tetsurou thinks this is still pretty nice.

Kenma turns to him with a deadpan face and a raised brow, mic lifted away from his mouth and headphones pulled away from only one ear.

Of course.

“Why are you looking like you’re having an emotional flashback?” the boy asks before frowning.

Tetsurou sputters for a long second in offense.

“Kenma!” he screeches for his own pride. “I am _not_!”

He misses this.

He misses messing with Kenma, he misses Kenma’s snarky remarks, he misses Kenma’s vague smell of literal _warmth,_ he misses the highschool days where he worried about nothing.

But they’re connecting again, and he doesn’t know how (or why) he stopped.


End file.
